Flexible organic light-emitting diodes on a polyestersulfone (PES) substrate using Al-doped ZnO anode grown by dual-plasma-enhanced metalorganic deposition system

This study proposes flexible organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) grown on polyestersulfone (PES) using Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) as the anode, fabricated by the dual-plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (DPEMOCVD) system. The experimental results including crystalline structure, optical, and electrical characteristics indicate that the quality of AZO films grown on PES depends on the deposition temperature and Al content. The optimal deposition temperature and Al content for AZO film are 185  C and 2.88 at%, respectively. Further increasing or decreasing the deposition temperature and Al content degrades the quality of AZO films. The optimal AZO film deposited on the PES substrate was used as the anode for flexible OLED. It shows a similar performance compared to OLEDs using commercial indium–tin-oxide (ITO) as the anode on glass, and represents enhanced characteristics to that of the commercial ITO anode on a flexible polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrate. This indicates that the DPEMOCVD-deposited AZO film on the PES substrate can be the anode for flexible OLEDs.

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► AZO was grown on PES using dual-plasma-enhanced metal–organic chemical vapor deposition system (DPEMOCVD).
► With the optimal deposition temperature and Al content, DPEMOCVD-deposited AZO shows low resistivity and high transmittance.
► Flexible OLED with DPEMOCVD-deposited AZO anode on PES is similar to that with commercial ITO anode on glass.